What does that start of your career look like? What are you actually going to do? How do other starters experience it? In this aritcle, Julian Kuipers gives you a peek behind the scenes and tells you what it’s like to start your career at INNOV8iON.
In August 2020, I (Julian Kuipers) started working at INNOV8iON as a Junior Technical SAP Consultant. This is my first job in IT and marks the beginning of my career. In this blog I tell you what is like to start as a junior at INNOV8iON and work in the technical SAP world.
Premier
INNOV8iON is a young consulting firm that focuses on technical issues in the ecosystem of SAP; one of the major global software vendors in the field of business applications, particularly known for their ERP package. Our activities include providing cloud solutions, integration, UX & UI, app development and delivering full stack custom solutions for our clients.
At INNOV8iON, we are always looking for valuable people to join our team. In August 2020, I was given the honor of being the first to jump into INNOV8iON’s own breeding ground to develop myself into a Full Stack Developer.
Development
The ecosystem of SAP is very extensive. There are many different software solutions and within these solutions there are different modules to use. To start off on the right foot it is important to understand the theory behind SAP and especially the theory of the latest ERP package SAP S/4HANA. I did this by completing Learning Journeys in the SAP Learning Hub. These journeys consist of different e-books, e-learnings and tests to finally reach the goal of the journey in question.
Opportunities
At INNOV8iON, I soon got the opportunity to join a major project at a client and was allowed to join the project team that was going to implement Fiori and procurement functionality on an existing SAP S/4HANA system. In this team, together with a Senior Technical Consultant, I am responsible for the entire technology of the project.
Some small samples of my work during this assignment:
- Activating the Fiori Launchpad. I also set this up with standard SAP applications.
- In addition, we have extended standard Fiori apps through extension points
- I was responsible for implementing BAdi’s and UI Adaptation.
- I created software to read and process incoming e-invoices using a 3-way match.
- In addition, I played a major role in making the sending of digital order messages from the SAP system available. We created a link with an external ordering system and made the use of that system available to the client in a customized Fiori app.
A day behind the scenes in the life of a Technical SAP Consultant
A question that will come to many readers’ minds after reading this blog will be something along the lines of “But what do you actually do on a daily basis as a Full Stack Developer?”. A very valid question; it can sound a bit abstract at times.
To begin with, it is important to know that the work really depends on the job you are doing and the role within that job.
For me, I often start my day with a quick check on the production system (the system that is actually used by the client to carry out the day-to-day work of the business) to see if the software we have created is working properly. As soon as there are any issues, I pick them up. Then we have a day start in which we tell what we did yesterday, are going to do today and discuss other details. After that, I often pick up a development issue from the sprint backlog (of course, we work agile) to design, work out, test or document it. Usually during the course of the day, I also have a number of appointments scheduled that I need to attend. These appointments vary greatly in nature. For example, an appointment with the other developer and/or the functional consultants to discuss development issues or to work these out together. It may also be that I am asked to explain a development issue that is being worked on or is already live to project members, the client or other stakeholders.
I do this either from the INNOV8iON office in De Meern/Utrecht, from the client’s office or from home. Regardless of where I work, I often try to get some fresh air after lunch. If I work at one of the two offices, I often do this with colleagues.
I vary this work with working on internal projects at INNOV8iON, giving training courses, preparing workshops or helping colleagues with challenging issues.
“At INNOV8iON you get the opportunity to develop in many different ways. In addition to external projects, we also regularly organize fun workshops and webinars in which we go deeper into new technologies within SAP. This way we always stay up to date with the latest developments.”
Olaf Kampers – Junior SAP Tech Consultant
Culture
In addition to the content of your work, it is of course very nice if you can do your work with like-minded people. We like to push the envelope and strive for the highest level of expertise in our field. That is why we organize an INNOV8iON Day every month. During these days we dive deeper into the latest (SAP) innovations, share knowledge. And of course, a healthy dose of fun should not be missing. Curious about the real INNOV8’ers? Check out this video:
Young Professionals
Our team of Young Professionals now consists of 3 juniors and we are looking for new Young Professionals with an affinity for IT to join our team. If you want to know more about our work, feel free to contact us at info@innov8ion.nl or send me a message on LinkedIn.
